While In Training For Cain Velasquez, Frank Mir Kept Junior Dos Santos In Back Of His Mind

Former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir can’t predict the future by any means.

But, when he saw the scheduled card for May and UFC 146, Mir kept it in the back of his mind that if something would happen to Alistair Overeem, he would be the most logical choice to fight Junior dos Santos for the UFC belt.

“I just kind of did the math in my own mind,” said Mir, during a recent appearance on The MMA Hour. “My team around me, we all pretty much felt that if dos Santos were to stay on the card, and Overeem was not able to challenge for the title, then I was the most logical person to step in. So as we were still training for Cain (Velasquez), there was that at the back of my mind, ‘Okay, be prepared for this to happen also.'”

So, instead of meeting Velasquez in the co-main event for the No. 1 contendership, Mir gets to jump right into the Octagon with dos Santos in “Cigano’s” first title defense.

Some of questioned if Mir is ready to be paired up with the champion despite his most recent victory over Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. The Las Vegas-based fighter said, “I still post a very large threat to dos Santos. I still think it’ll be an interesting cat-and-mouse game between me and Junior.”

Mir has proven he is a more-than-worthy opponent, but it remains to be seen if anyone can take out dos Santos. We will see come May, however, who takes this heavyweight title tilt.